secret santa

Lot 653

Looks pretty authentic to me...................

It's from the Hiram brown collection but, saying that, there's also a clumsily forged 1943 penny in there as well, described simply as 1943 penny, even though they don't exist !!!

Yes, I paid a fortune for this 1961 penny with the date upside down.

I know it's rather subjective but I'd say Fine only -see cover of said book.

Very identifiable lighthouse, too.

They are, along with the 1882 no H and the 1860 mules, among the most recognisable true rarities which brings the "glamour". I think that if I weren't building up the population with pictures on my website, they might well be still thought of as a single figure population.

And another one at DNW in March - they're coming thick and fast.

And it's virtually identical to the Fine example in Derek Allen's excellent book "The Standard Guide to Grading British Coins".

Probably like online dating - full of promise but ends in tears (so I'm told !)

Winter of '63 - my friend Stewart and I were having a snowball fight outside his house a day or two before school was due to resume after Christmas when our French master/deputy headmaster emerged from his house across the way and ordered us up to school the next day (through foot deep snow) to address letters to all the pupils to tell them that the school would be closed for another week. We meekly obeyed him and struggled up to school along with a few other unlucky victims - imagine what today's kids would say to their teacher in similar circumstances !!!!

When I was about 6 or 7 I nagged my Mum to buy me a pack of Corn Flakes because there was a "skull" mask on the back of the packet but she made me wait until I'd eaten the whole packet before I got the mask. I haven't been able to stomach corn flakes since that day.........................

It's always been pictured on my varieties website.

Any chance of you coming back to help numbers ????

Sunday lunch listening to Hancock's Half Hour was one of my greatest childhood memories.

This forum has complained repeatedly but the site(s) is still as unfriendly as ever.

Do I detect another fan of the late, great Tony Hancock ?

Lukasz would be selling that as a 6 over 5.

I keep swaying between obv 2 and 4. Other opinions ?

#Me too

There's a somewhat similar specimen to Mike's in the next LCA - not quite the same position of 8 but the same wonky last figure 1. Also an interesting R over small A (a lazy attempt to repair the leg of the R ?) and a very unconvincing (to me) 1862 PFNNY.

I have recently spent a lot of time adding the George III 1797 and 1805/6 pattern, proof and restrike penny varieties to my varieties website. I thought it needed doing because the pictures in Peck are small, black & white and very low resolution , making it hard to identify individual varieties and check the minute details such as the number of gunports on the ship. I've been taking photographs from auction sites but still need photos of some varieties to complete the task. While I was doing this, I discovered that my specimen of 1806 "P1326" is, in fact, an unrecorded (as far as I know) die-pairing. Peck, on page 366, states that the only occurrence of the 1806 proof penny with imperfect date figures (1 and 0) is in die-pairing KP31, paired with a reverse featuring a ship with 3 stays from the foremast to the bowsprit, being struck in Gilt (P1325), Bronzed copper (P1326) and Copper (P1327). However, the penny that I bought from London Coins auction in 2010 (lot 1544) as a Peck 1326 has the obverse with imperfect date figures described above but the reverse of KP30 which Peck records uniquely on P1322, 1323 and 1324 and has only 2 stays from the foremast to the bowsprit and, importantly, a very conspicuous die flaw from the second A of BRITANNIA to the border. I don't know whether this has been noticed and/or recorded before, or how important it is but it is interesting (to me, at least !) All other specimens of P1325-7 that I have seen have the die-pairing documented by Peck. Maybe some of you copper experts can comment ?

That's a hugely detailed article - does anyone know Mick Martin or have contact details ?

That's a great spot Jerry - definitely worth a few bob !

Thanks very much. Do you have my email address ?